The 2021 Canadian census showed the number of Quebecers whose mother tongue is English has continued to decline, and several municipalities where native English speakers were once the majority have now fallen below the 50 per cent threshold.
As the mayor of the Laurentian town of Gore, Scott Pearce said he’s seen the decline first hand.
“When I took the job 20 years ago, the first few years we were over 50 per cent English. Now we’re down to about 20 per cent,” he said.
It’s one of several communities in the Laurentians with deep English-speaking roots that has seen a decline. But the decline is also happening on the island of Montreal.
Depending on how you interpret the data from the latest census, cities such as Westmount, Pointe-Claire and Beaconsfield are already or on the verge of falling below 50 per cent.
Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for …